Compile Away …

Since the High Court decision in IceTV, there has been a renewed focus in copyright decisions on the concept of “originality” for the subsistence of copyright.

A recent Federal Court appeal decision looks at this in relation to a “compatibility chart” for consumables used in computers and printers.

The Court confirmed the decision of the judge at first instance that copyright subsisted in the chart:

“human intellectual endeavour” had been involved in selecting and arranging the information in the chart, and in expressing the chart in a particular form;

that endeavour had been supplied by an identifiable author (an employee of the relevant company); and

the intellectual effort involved was more than negligible and had therefore resulted in an original literary work.

The case is a useful reminder that copyright can subsist in even mundane types of works, but that,­ particularly in such cases,­ it is vital to ensure that what has been created, how it was created and who created it is fully assessed before action is taken.